Why Gryffindors and Slytherins Hate Each Other: A Marauder's Folktale
by Silverswaninthemoonlight
Summary: When Harry went to school, you couldn't enter a House's Common Room that wasn't your own, But once this was not the case. In fact, for the longest time Gryffindors could enter their Hufflepuff friends dormitories! It had been that way since the founder's era! But only recently, in the Marauder's Era did the no inter-house-mingling rule came into play. Here's why! Please review!


**_Disclaimer:_ I own nothing! Everything belongs to our Queen, J. K Rowling**

When Harry Potter and his friends, Ron and Hermione came to school, there was a very strict rule enforced that students from other houses _cannot_ under _any circumstance_ enter the common rooms of other houses. There are barriers guarding the entrance to each common room and only the student's belonging to it's house can enter. The locations of each House's tower are a secret to all but the Heads of House, students, and house ghosts. Should a Gryffindor manage to enter the Slytherin Common room, the Ravenclaw Common room, or the Hufflepuff common room (or "vice versa"), the consequences are most dire. Punishments include a 100 point deduction from the student's house and a week's worth of detentions. Should two students from one house be caught trying to enter another house, 200 points are deducted. So severe were these guidelines, that Harry and his friends were forced to resort to brewing polyjuice potion illegally, as well as wearing Harry's invisibility cloak.

But did you know that this was not always the case? Until very recently, students were free to enter common rooms whose house they did not belong to. For many many generations, beginning from the Founder's era, it was _quite_ the norm to see Hufflepuffs lounging in the Ravenclaw dormitory or Slytherin's sharing hearty laughs with their friends in Gryffindor (back then, the rivalry between the two wasn't_ half_ as strong as it was when Harry arrived) It was only very recently that this code of isolation between houses was enforced. So recently it was, that it occurred in our very own Marauder's era! And it was brought about by no less than one of our beloved marauder's themselves! And yes dear reader, it is very possible than you are shaking your head and affectionately sighing "Oh, _James_!" or thinking "Sirius, what did you_ do_!?" Perhaps you are wondering "What sort of prank did Padfoot and Prongs cook up _this time_!" You _may_ be even thinking "_Lupin!_"

But no, my dear reader! Should these thoughts be ringing in your head, let them be silenced now! Let them be silenced by these facts. The first is that the house-isolation policy existing within Hogwarts when Harry arrived was not brought about by a _prank_! The second is that it was not brought about by James, Sirius, or even Lupin. This rule, my dear reader was one brought about by _**Wormtail!**_

Our story begins in the Marauder's fifteenth years of life. O.W.L's, the examinations that would play a crucial role in determining the student's course of life after Hogwarts, were on the horizon, approaching the Fifth Year's like a schooner approaching a port. They were drawing closer and every second's use was instrumental to their performance in the examinations. The fifth years were panicked and stressed. More so than they had ever been in their whole lives! It did not matter whether you were a muggle-born, half-blood, or pure-blood! You were losing sleep! Not only were you going to be asked about what you had learned this year, but you were going to be inquired about every single piece of learning you had learned since your first year! Students who had chosen more than two additional subjects in their third year, were going to have to do extra examinations wit even less time than the students who had only chosen two. It was quite easy to tell those who had more than two additional subjects. They were sweaty, and shaky, and seemed to be even more sick with anxiety than every body else. You needn't have done more than keep an eye out for the students who were white as unicorns and seemed to be their own water source (secreting enough sweat to quench the thirst of a family of four in Africa)

But for the marauders, they were each secreting enough sweat to quench the thirst of _all_ of Africa! They were even more stressed out than the overachievers who were taking every single additional subject. On more than one occasion did a teacher stop them in the hall and ask if they had been bitten by a venomous tentacula. Including teacher's like Professor McGonnagal who was well aware of the symptoms of stress commonly expressed in the fifth years.

The reason for the Marauder's extra unease was because they were taking on a lot more than just the O. . They had a lot more on their mind than just the effects of mandrake juice and how to feed and clean a fire crab.

The reason for this was because the Marauders were nearing the end of the animagus transformation process. Now, dear reader, as you are no-doubt well aware, Peter, James, and Sirius had pieced together the discovery of their fellow Marauder, Lupin's lycanthropy. Once a month, when the moon had dwenked, he would secretly enter the Shrieking Shack, a dilapidated building located near Hogsmeade village, where he would undergo a shocking metamorphosis, transforming into a murderous beast with a temper and blood lust- a werewolf. He became incapable of logic and thought, and would (without any uncertainty of the slightest) murder any unfortunate human being unlucky enough to cross his path.

As Lupin got older, so did the wolf, and as it grew, it became more and more dangerous and sadistic with age. A werewolf has some strange longing within it to destroy and kill any living creature within it's path. That is it's only instinct, it's only purpose. Unfortunately for the wolf, it had no access to any living creature, so it bit attacked the only thing it could find-itself. And the older it got, the more damage it would do to itself, scratching and ripping and gouging until by the time it transformed back into Lupin, his first sensation as a human would be excruciating agony. By the time his wounds had healed, the moon would be refilled and he would have to return back to the Shrieking Shack to get them reopened.

But now the wolf was exerting so much damage, that Lupin's wounds would not be fully healed by the time the moon became full again. Therefore, each month, instead of having time to strengthen himself from his wounds, he would now endure a rapidly mounting, agony. By the time he was in his fifth year, he was going down a one-way street of pain which only got worse and worse. Adding this torture to the brand, new, stress of his incoming O.W.L's (a stress which in itself was psychologically overwhelming, to a non-lycan) made Lupin very close to cracking under the strain.

So bad was Lupin's fifth year, that he was considering suicide with an air of something like lightheartedness. On more than one occasion would his friends find him trying to down a handful of tentacula seeds or trying to perform a severing charm on his throat. There was many a night spent with Sirius ripping Lupin's wand out of his hand, or James shoving his own down Lupin's throat yelling _"Accio Tentacula Seeds!"_ Sometimes, his urge for death would be so incredible that he would work himself up into a sort of kamikaze frenzy and it took every single Marauder to keep him from jumping out the window. The remainder of these nights usually consisted with Lupin sobbing into James and Sirius's arms while screaming "I can't do this anymore! Please don't make me do this anymore!"

But his friends were undergoing their own trials as well. Besides the O.W.L's, they had an additional stress on their backs. They were on the verge of becoming animagi. To bring back to a latter opening statement, the four had decided in their second year that letting Lupin put himself through so much pain every night on the full moon would be brutal and inhumane. Since A werewolf is only a danger to humans, by changing into animals, they could sneak into the Shrieking Shack and distract him from self-harm and keep him in check.

After three years, they had finally made a breakthrough. They had discovered what their inner animal was (an animagus transforms into his spirit animal) But doing the animagus process is a bit like climbing Mount Everest. One wrong move, and everything can spiral out of control. When uttering the long an difficult chains of spells, one must perform (these spells are so long that it can take hours on end to finish chanting out), one mispronunciation or stutter can result in death or worse. The marauders had spent their entire fourth year just simply trying to perfect the recitation of these incantations. But the spells are elementary compared to the potions that additionally have do be brewed

The first challenges are the ingredients Each ingredient must have a precise attribute to it. For example, the knotgrass must be picked at the full moon, and each blade of grass must have been picked with respect to it's position in relation to the blade picked and laid out to the left of it. There is no "one way" to brew these potions. Different steps and different amounts of ingredients must be chosen and each one must be in relation to a different attribute depending on what your spirit animal is. And so began the secret project of growing and harvesting the ingredients themselves. Should we delve into details of the aches and pains the Marauder's endured trying to sneak bubotuber seeds past professor Sprout, or the breeding of Horned slugs, this story shall never continue. Should the story describe the rest of the criterion required for the animagus process, my dear reader, you shall be here till the end of time. Fortunately, in one of the animagus books they had checked out of the library (it had taken every grain of cunning in their heads to check them out of the restricted section of the library without drawing suspicion to themselves) had a chart of all the ingredients and their characteristics required in order to brew a potion to turn into a long list of animals, including deer, dogs, and mice.

Then comes the actual brewing of the potions. So complex were the instructions ,that by the time the Marauders had finished _analyzing them, _they had pounding headaches. And since each potion had to be brewed at exact certain times, without so much as one minute off schedule, the marauders had to take turns brewing the potions and watching over them. Leaving them alone while they brewed was far tor risky. Risks included somebody stumbling upon them or accidentally knocking them down, or the Marauders returning too late to perform the next set of instructions after brewing time was complete-(should the potion brew for one second longer than necessary, all would be lost) On certain days, one boy would have to stay behind to guard and brew the potions while the others made excuses for his absence in class.

The potions and charms worked in sync with each other, so if a potion was brewed wrong before it was even ingested, the boys would become disfigured beyond recognition. Should the story describe the rest of the criterion required for the animagus process, my dear reader, you shall be here till the end of time. Instead, the paragraph shall simply conclude with the statement that the Marauders were nearing the completion of the process and if they were working hard and being careful before, then now they had to to so with four times the effort. Their body's could sense what was happening to them, and the impending changes. And similar to the symptoms experienced by women about to menstruate or cigarette smoker's withdrawal, they were experiencing abdominal cramps, nausea, fatigue, and diarrhea. So all in all, they weren't exactly at their best personalities.

Now dear reader, we finally turn to Wormtail. He was beginning to have doubts about the Marauders. He was all for doing anything for friendship (especially when _he_ was the friend things were being done for!) It was all in fun to talk about being an animagus and to sneak into a place where a hungry werewolf would be awaiting. But to actually go through with it? Wormtail wasn't so sure. He felt as though he was entering uncharted freidnship territory and was beginning to experience qualms about the whole thing. He didn't want to break off his friendship with the Marauders. No, that would mean the loss of all his status and his being left without protection! Their association with him barely sealed the deal with people acknowledging his existence!

Wormtail also began to wonder what would happen if the whole "Werewolf is not a danger to animals" law was bogus? A rat was hard to notice, so he himself should have been safe. But what if the werewolf attacked and killed James or Sirius? Then what? Then it would be just him and Lupin. And even without the future knowledge that he was the killer of their two friends, the bond between Lupin and Peter had never been particularly strong. Lupin may have initiated Peter's joining the group, but that was more out of pity. He paid little to no attention to him. Sirius and James mostly used Wormtail as the butt of their jokes and their boot-licker-_which_ he was fine with. At least he was getting _some_ recognition.

As Wormtail began to dwell more and more on his uneasy theories, the more fueled was his desire to have a group of "back-up friends" Just in case James and Sirius had their throats torn out, it would be nice to have a new group to fall back on. So Peter thus began his "shopping" for a new group of friends. After much "browsing" and surveying all the most popular groups of kids in Hogwarts, he finally found and picked a group that he thought would fit his criterion.

Wormtail had his eye on a group of Slytherin boys (_no_ Snape was _not_ in them). They were in his year, and although they were not half as reckless as the marauders, and they stood for everything they opposed, they were some of the more popular kids in the school and their rivalry between the Marauders was not half as powerful as the rivalry between Draco and Harry. Had Wormtail started hanging out with them, it would not cause a huge scandal (even if he wasn't very popular, the school was still aware of his being a Marauder. Had he started hanging out with somebody like Snape, the whole school would have certainly noticed and an uproar would have spawned)

Wormtail began sidling up to the four boys at lunchtime or breakfast after slipping away from his own gang (the Marauder's seldom noticed him) He did not make his presence something worth acknowledgment. He would sit at the Slytherin table, careful to hide the red on his robes, and day after day, he would inch closer and closer to them with each passing day in a manner so nonchalantly, nobody even cared when he had finally sidled up with them. He would listen to their conversations and occasionally offer insight, or snicker if one of them told a joke. In order to study up on the Slytherin house and it's interests, he would sneak off to the library and trophy room to read up on all the best Slytherin, Quidditch players over the ages and all the best Wizards and witches who stemmed from the House. Therefore, whenever the boys began discussing the Slytherin history, Wormtail would not only know what they were talking about, but he could also occasionally contribute.

Gradually, the boys became aware of Wormtail's being in the group. They were so used to him, by this time that they could not have cared less. They saw him as nothing more than a part of the Hogwarts landscape, and if they were hacked off because he was a Gryffindor, they did not show it. That was just how Wormtail liked it. He didn't want to have a major role in a group. He didn't want to be a big part of it. He just wanted to be in one.

Eventually Wormtail began sneaking into the Slytherin Common rooms to hang out with the boys. He didn't want to keep his friendship between them brittle. The prospect of James and Sirius getting eaten by Lupin was become heavier and heavier. In his mind, he was positive that on the very first night they snuck out to join Lupin on the full moon, they'd be devoured before they knew it. He wanted to make sure that his friendship between the Slytherin boys was strong enough to fall back on, permanently. And to do that, he had to become more present in their lives. And since he didn't dare risk sitting next to them in class in front of James, the only time he could risk hanging out with them secretly besides mealtime (and that too, he felt that the Marauders's suspicions were rousing. He didn't want the Marauders to know he was hanging around Slytherins. James had a vehement hatred of the Snake house and the mildest association with it would drive him livid. Wormtail _certainly_ didn't want to be on James's bad side..)

Now, dear reader, perhaps you may be inquiring why there are no details describing Wormtail's stress in the animagus procedure? Surely Wormtail was struggling with it? But my dear reader, Wormtail was having no trouble with the animagus procedure at all! Contrariwise to what Lupin told Harry, Ron, and Hermione in their third year about Wormtail needing all the help he could get from Sirius and James, this was not at all the case! Wormatail took to the animagus procedure, the way a fish takes to water! He brewed all the potions effortlessly. He carried out the spells needed, without a single flaw! When it came to harvesting the ingredients, he felt as though he had known all along what they must be like in order to become a rat!

Don't go running off with the idea that Wormtail was an incredibly talented wizard, my dear reader! He certainly was _not_! His transfiguration O.W.L was a narrow acceptable, his charms O.W.L, a Poor, and his Potions O.W.L was a steady Troll! However, when it came to combining all three subjects for the rat transformation procedure, Wormtail was in his element! He was so talented at it that he was seriously wondering if he had swallowed some felix felicis, unknowingly! He was sure that he had added the wrong number of Salamander tails, or stirred counterclockwise when clockwise was the requiem! But he didn't! He was sure that he was skipping over a section when he recited his incantations, or mispronounced half the words! But he didn't! He never ever did!

When it came to rats , Wormtail just was a natural (Pun completely intended)! Whenever it came to rat-related magic, he just was incredible! So when it came to the animagus transformation, dear reader, it will now surely come to no surprise that Wormtail mastered it _six months_ before Sirius or even James! A reasonable theory would follow the lines of his being already _so much like_ a rat, that there wasn't much left to do.

Now for some reason, Wormtail decided that it would not be a good idea to reveal his early success to his friends. Some hidden instinct told him not to. Peter decided to trust the inner voice and pretended that he was having great difficulty transforming, and needed all the help he could get.

Although it would have given him no greater pleasure to show his friends that he wasn't half as useless as they thought he was, he always had a hidden urge advising him against it. Perhaps it had something to do with his sneaking into the teacher's desks at night and accessing the answers to the homework and exams (he was always smart enough to make enough mistakes to avoid suspicion), sneaking into the girl's shower room, or sneaking into the Slytherin Common room in the evenings as a rat. He would scuttle behind a curtain and transform back to human. Then, he would exit the drapery and go off to find his Slytherin friends. His gift of being unnoticed permitted him to do the latter without any Slytherins wondering about his spontaneous entrance.

And now, my dear reader, this is where the cat comes in!

It was a large, fat and ugly cat. There was nothing attractive about it in the slightest. It's fur was a rather garish orange, it's tail was short and stubby. It would not be an exaggeration to compare it to a bottlebrush. It was fat and pudgy, with beady little yellow eyes, that seemed one second away from submerging into the depths of it's face. It's ears were bizzarely lopsided, and riddled with holes. It's very face itself gave off the impression that somebody had bashed it in with a frying pan. It was possibly the most unattractive animal to ever take a breath of life. Yet somehow, all the girls in the school took a shine to it and were fond of bringing it into their common rooms. The cat had won enough girl's hearts so that it was not a rarity to witness it smugly nestled in the arms of one, brushing it's fur and crooning ridiculous baby talk, in any common room.

Now the teachers themselves were somewhat wary about the animal. This was mainly due to the fact that it could be seen on several occasions, entering the Forbidden Forest, and reemerging from it, perfectly unharmed. Now, no ordinary cat could accomplish a feat like that so the theory that it was a kneazle hadn't taken long to root. The teacher's unease about the cat's origins resulted in the forbidding of it's allowance in the castle (That and Filch's protestations that it was bothering Mrs. Norris) But the girl's adoration of the cat was so strong that they were blind to the consequences.

One night, a first-year Slytherin girl had brought it with her to her house. She and her friends had fawned over it and braided it's fur until they got bored and left it in the Common room while they went to change into their pajamas. It cosied itself up by the hearth and began to slovenly wash it's paws and face.

Meanwhile, Peter had sneaked into the Common room, while his friends were talking to each other. He had secretly transformed and sped off to the Slytherin Common room. He followed some Slytherins entering as well, scooted in when they uttered the password, and hid behind a curtain until everybody had gone off to their dorms to change into their pajamas. He planned to transform back into a human, and go join his friends there.

He waited for what seemed like forever before he finally scuttled out into the open. Unfortunately, he waited one forever too soon. Somebody did see him sneak out into the open. That somebody was the Cat! Peter hadn't seen it at first when he scuttled in, and the cat didn't notice him because it was facing the fireplace. But the moment Peter slipped out of his hiding place, the cat chose to make use of that moment by lazily turning it's head in his direction. Peter saw the cat a second too late.

With a swift, but silent pounce the cat was on Peter! He squeaked in alarm, but it was too late! It was biting and scratching, and tearing and gouging! Peter was too alarmed to feel the searing pain. He writhed and struggled with all his might, but it was as though the cat's grip was made of iron! Once he managed to escape. His rat instincts in full command, he bolted for the exit! But the cat was surprisingly fast, despite it's bulk and just when he thought that he was free from it's clutches, he realized that he was back in them!

Escaping the cat was like trying to carry a boulder up a mountain, only for it to tumble back down again once it reached the top! Each time, Peter thought that he had found an escape, the Cat would cut it off the moment it became know to him. He felt as though he was in a cubic room, with the walls, floor, and ceiling closing in...he could start to feel the pain...and it was making him weak...the cat could tell too...his reflexes were slowing...within seconds he'd find himself in the cat's jaws permanently...his only way...was TRANSFORMING!...he had no choice...if somebody came in...well...it was...that or dying...one...two...

Peter was certain the transformation wouldn't work. It was all a lie.. He would be too weak. Something would go wrong...But then, he was growing, and the cat was tiny, and he could feel his fur retracting back into his flesh...everything was occuring normally in an eerie fashion...but who cared? He was human! The cat couldn't attack him...but what if it lunged at his throat...anything seemed possible now...He was human!

But the cat did not lunge at him. Rather, the moment he started rapidly growing, it gave a skin-crawling yowl of shock and bolted into some room in the Slytherin house with surprising speed...maybe it was the girl's dorm...it liked girls...everything was going blurry..._oh the pain!_

Peter wasn't in the clear yet. Transforming had not solved all his problems. Although the cat could not longer harm him, the existing wounds did not disappear and heal like Peter had expected. In fact, not only had they remained, but they had become proportional to the rest of his body. Peter's wound as a mouse were now consisting of giant, gaping slashes and gashes, inches thick. His robes were stained with blood and everything started to go blurry.

Peter wasn't sure how long he had been lying in the crumpled heap, he was now. But he was dimly aware that after the cat yowled (he had no idea how soon after. It could have been a minute or an hour. Time seemed to have no meaning) he heard some voices.

"Did you hear that yowl?"

"I think it was that cat!"

"Confound it! Those idiot girls must have brought it in!"

"Hopefully Slughorn didn't hear it!"

"Syltherin will lose house points!"

"It sounded scared..."

"Something scared it..."

"I'm going to see..."

Peter wasn't aware of how long the students had gone on chattering about whether or not they should go into the Common Room. The whole room was dissolving into a blur of murky green. He felt as though he should call out for help...but his lungs felt as though they had been blown up...he could feel no air register within them...all his energy had to be used with just trying to breathe...that was his primary concern...

Suddenly students began pouring into the Common Room. It took about five seconds for them to notice Peter crumpled up in a bloody mass on the ground. Peter was dimly conscious of somebody screaming and shouts of urgency, addressing the Common Room.

"My dear boy!" blustered a voice he barely remembered was Professor Slughorn's.

"What happened to you!"

Peter had just enough wits about him to merely groan. Fortunately, Slughorn was satisfied with the reply.

"You're not in my house are you...You're a Gryffindor?"

Peter almost nodded...but groaned again.

"We need to get you to the Hospital Wing immediately! Can you walk?"

Peter made a valiant attempt to get to his feet-and failed miserably.

Try as he might, Peter could not bring himself to remember how exactly he had gotten to the the hospital wing. He had rested his eyes for a minute, closing them to the view of the alarmed Slytherin students. When he reopened them a split-second later, he found himself staring into Madam Pomfrey's worried face.

"Oh, thank goodness, you're awake!" Exclaimed the Matron.

"It was the hardest thing I ever did to get you looking like you used to!"

"How...long...?" Groaned Peter.

"Three full days! Although I must say, the fact that you woke up at all is _nothing_ short of a miracle!"

Peter learned from Madam Pomfrey that the news of his incident had spread about the school like wildfire. He had become something of a celebrity. He was quite a hot topic among the students. He realized that this meant that James, Sirius, and Lupin must have surely realized that he was in the Slytherin dormitory. As he did so, he felt a wave of dread creep up his spine. They knew that he had been in the Slytherin Common Room. Had they put two and two together? He became almost catatonic with shock and nearly vomited. Madam Pomfrey had to give him a sleeping potion in order to calm him down.

Meanwhile, according to the rumor mill, Peter had gone into the Slytherin Common Room and had gotten jumped by a gang of Slytherins. This, apparently was the story everybody believed- including the Slytherins! Even though they acted all close-knit and together, that was just a performance put on to impress the other houses. In reality they were sneaky and decisive, not trusting each other for a minute. They were all sure that _somebody_ in Slytherin had jumped Peter. Just not them.

The supposed horrendous crime against Gryffindor had infuriated James, Sirius, and even Lupin so much, that they had completely forgotten to question what exactly Peter was doing in the Slytherin Common Room. The Marauders were rather irrational that way.

When Peter got wind of the rumor, he was thrilled! Fate had smiled down upon him! He could not have been more fortunate!

He was smart enough not to contradict the statement, nor was he foolish enough to confirm it. By doing so, he added even more fuel to the rumor and confirmed even the teacher's beliefs in it. They all thought that by his silence, he was nobly protecting the identities of his attackers. McGonnagal thought that he was finally living up to the Gryffindor name.

But then there was the issue of finding out the attackers. Due to Peter's silence, and nobody admitting to the crime, none of the teachers knew what to do! Professor Sprout went so far as to suggest that the entire Slytherin House take turns going up to Dumbledore's study after taking a dose of veritaserum! This, Slughorn would not allow, despite his desire to find the culprit as much as everybody else.

Finally, the search had to be called off. Peter was beside himself with glee and it took every fiber of his being not to show it.

Meanwhile, there was still the matter at hand about the rivalry between the houses. When learning that a Gryffindor had gotten jumped by Slytherins, the rivalry between the two houses had hardened solid. They were at each other's throats, out for blood. It really was quite scary. The teachers were aware of the strengthened rivalry due to their observations of the two houses determined to outshine each other in class, They were terrified that some vengeful Gryffindors might try to sneak into the Slytherin Common Room, ready to lynch some unsuspecting Slytherins. The teachers could certainly not let that happening. Professor Sprout and Professor Flitwick had gotten scared that Peter's "jumping" might stimulate a rivalry between their own houses, and that some Ravenclaws might be encouraged to do the same to an unsuspecting Hufflepuff in their Common Room or the other way around. The incident had triggered the fear of every possible scenario.

Finally, after a very long teacher's conference (there were no classes the day it was held) Professor Dumbledore held a huge speech in the Great Hall

"My students" He said sadly.

"Has the bitter rivalry between the Houses really come to this? Hatred will solve nothing by the end of the day. The houses were created as a way for the students to co-exist within each other. To share and teach their house's attributes to other house's students. Not to jealously hoard their house traits and hiss at the ones displayed within the other house's. Bravery, loyalty, logic and intelligence, and cunning by themselves is useless. To grow a tree, you must give it sunlight, rain, fertile soil, and air. To give a plant only one of the above will not let it grow. The purpose of creating these four houses is so that when you leave Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, our hope is that you will have cultivated all four of the traits this school values. NOT just the ones in your own house"

"But" He continued sadly.

"The horrendous crime committed this week has given me no choice but to go against all the Founder's hoped for. It pains me greatly to do so, but I have no choice.

From now on, the entrance to each house shall be bestowed with a defense mechanism, preventing all but the Heads and students from entering. Should students from one house be caught in a different house's tower, they shall receive a week of detentions and a deduction of one hundred points from their house per student. Should a student be caught revealing the location of their Common Room to any student of a different house who does not know otherwise, they shall receive a fifty point deduction"

And with a sad shake of his head, Dumbledore dismissed the dismayed students.

And from then on, the students of one house were no longer allowed to mingle with students from other houses in their Common room. And that, my dear reader, is why Harry and his friends had to brew polyjuice potion in order to sneak into the Slytherin Common Room

**Thanks for reading my story! Please drop a review on your way out! This was a story that my Dad told me! All credit goes to him! He really is an awesome storyteller! I love you, Daddy! Oh, and P.S the cat was Crookshanks! Just in case you haven't guessed! That's why he attacked Peter in the shop in PoA! He recognized him for what he was! The book doesn't say whether he was born in the Magiacl Menagerie or not! So I just took advantage of it! Thanks again for reading! Check out my profile for more Marauders stories!**


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